


Queen Beruthiel and Her Cats of Ten

by HASA_Archivist



Category: The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: 3rd Age - The Kings, Poetry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-18
Updated: 2015-04-18
Packaged: 2018-03-23 13:01:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3769442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HASA_Archivist/pseuds/HASA_Archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An entry for the Children's Poetry Challenge.  I just *had* to write one about Beruthiel.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Queen Beruthiel and Her Cats of Ten

**Author's Note:**

> Note from the HASA Transition Team: This story was originally archived at [HASA](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Henneth_Ann%C3%BBn_Story_Archive), which closed in February 2015. To preserve the archive, we began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in February 2015. We posted announcements about the move, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this author, please contact The HASA Transition Team using the e-mail address on the [HASA collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/hasa/profile).

  
Listen, my children, and I shall tell you the tale  
Of Queen Berúthiel and her cats of ten  
And when, years ago, they all set sail  
Never to be seen in Osgiliath again.

Tarannon was the twelfth King over Gondor to reign  
And under his rule, things were all very well  
But his wife, Berúthiel, was solitary and vain  
And hated Osgiliath, where the two did dwell.

She was a loveless woman, no child bore she  
She hated all colors, save for silver and black  
She hated the sound and the smell of the sea  
Bare were her chambers, and of her heart, ‘twas a lack.

Ten cats had she, nine of black, one of white  
They were her slaves, and were feared by all men  
They would wander the streets, all the day, all the night  
Men cursed when they passed, for afterwards then

The cats would return to their Queen, and she  
Would then on journey into their thoughts embark  
By the memories of her slaves the Queen could then see  
All the secrets of Gondor that were hidden and dark.

She was hated in secret by her country and spouse  
They feared their Queen, and her cats of ten  
When the Queen then demanded a change of house  
King Tarannon decided he had had enough then.

He put her and her cats on a ship alone  
And set them adrift before a strong north wind  
And not one eye in Gondor cried, not one throat did moan  
To see their Queen on the mast, tied up and pinned.

By the light of the crescent moon, the ship drifted away  
And when her people saw their Queen last  
Her ship had sunk into the Great Sea to stay  
With a cat on the bow, and a cat on the mast.


End file.
